arse
ribaldry, of which, it must be observed, Florine did not know the
contents, having received it after communicating a summary of the
contents of the manuscript, which, the first time, she had only glanced
through without taking it away. We have said, that Florine, yielding
too late to a generous repentance, had reached Mother Bunch's apartment,
just as the latter quitted the house in consternation.

Perceiving a light in the dressing-room, the waiting-maid hastened
thither. She saw upon a chair the black dress that Mother Bunch had just
taken off, and, a few steps further, the shabby little trunk, open and
empty, in which she had hitherto preserved her poor garments. Florine's
heart sank within her; she ran to the secretary; the disorder of the
card-board boxes, the note for five hundred francs left by the side
of the two lines written to Mdlle. de Cardoville, all proved that her
obedience to Rodin's orders had borne fatal fruit, and that Mother Bunch
had quitted the house for ever. Finding the uselessness of her tardy
resolution, Florine resigned herself with a sigh to the necessity of
delivering the manuscript to Rodin. Then, forced by the fatality of her
miserable position to console herself for evil by evil, she considered
that the hunchback's departure would at least make her treachery less
dangerous.

Two days after these events, Adrienne received the following note from
Rodin, in answer to a letter she had written him, to inform him of the
work-girl's inexplicable departure:

"MY DEAR YOUNG LADY;--Obliged to set out this morning for the factory of
the excellent M. Hardy, whither I am called by an affair of importance,
it is impossible for me to pay you my humble respects. You ask me what I
think of the disappearance of this poor girl? I really do not know. The
future will, I doubt not, explain all to her advantage. Only, remember
what I told you at Dr. Baleinier's, with regard to a certain society and
its secret emissaries, with whom it has the art of surrounding those
it wishes to keep a watch on. I accuse no one; but let us only recall
facts. This poor girl accused me; and I am, as you know, the most
faithful of your servants. She possessed nothing; and yet five hundred
francs were found in her secretary. You loaded her with favors; and
she leaves your house without even explaining the cause of this
extraordinary flight. I draw no conclusion, my dear young lady; I am
always unwilling to condemn without e